Tuning control means



, Oct. V5, 1937. 1 MA|| LARD TUNING CONTROL MEANS Filed Dec. 3. 1935Inventor:

d, V a 9 MAK@ .t unct O L WA Patented Oct. 5, 1937 UNITED ,STATI-:s

2,095,100 TUNING CONTROL MEANS Louis Maillard, Paris, France, assignorto Gen-'- eral Electric Company, a corporation of New York ApplicationDecember 3,' 1935, Serial No. 52,683 In France December 21, 1934 3Claims.

rapid and accurate change from one tuning posim tion to another.

In acordance with my invention, the control shaft of the apparatus to becontrolled carries' a hollow cylindrical drum Within which several ringsare placed, each rihg of which is provided with one or more recesses ordetents. v'Ihese detentsco-operate with .a corresponding number of ballsof plungers that are carried by a stationary member mounted on the frontpanel of the apparatus. Each time the control shaft is o moved fromonedesired position to another, one'y of the balls engagesin thecorresponding detent and holds the control shaft in an interlockedposition. The'cylindrical drum may be connected in any appropriatemanner to a control handle within reach of the operators hand.

The novel features which I believe to be characteristic of my inventionare set forthwith particularlty in the appended claims. My inventionitself, however, both `as to its organization and method of operation,together with further objects and advantages thereof may best beunderstood by reference to the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing in Awhich Figs. 1 and 2 are views partlyin cross section of one embodiment of my invention. i I

Referring to Fig. 1 of th drawing, 1t wm be seen that control shaft I,whose angular position is varied according to the frequency desired, hasmounted thereon a cylindrical drum 2 having an end wall 3 and a hub 4.Rotatably carried on the inner surface 5 of drum 2 are tworings 6 and 1which are each provided with a 5 notch or detentI 8 and 9 (shown in Fig.2) respectively on their inner peripheries. A guard ring-29 secured todrum 2 by screws 39 prevents any axial movement of rings 6 and 1. Astation-k ary member I Il mounted on the front panel I I 50 of the,apparatus by means of bolts I2 and I3 (Flg.2), extends within the drum 2between hub l anfd rings 6 andl 1. Balls I4 and I5 carried incylindrical yapertures I6' and I 1 of the locking member I0 are pressedagainst rings 6 and 1 re- 55 spectively by means ofsprings' I8 and I9.It is apparent that when one of the rings is so turned that its detentwill be opposite one of the springpressed balls that the ball will beforced into the detent and will then hold the ring in position.

Rings 6 and 1 may be made to coact with drum 2 by tightening set-screws20 and 2|. The po-- sition of drum 2 may be controlled by any suitablemechanism such as by providing a wheel 22 mounted on the end wall 3 bymeans of bolts 23 and by connecting this wheel through a Bowden cable 24(Fig. 2) to a second wheel 25 which rotated by means of the operatinghandle 26. An end cap 21 may be provided over hub 4 and an indicatingdisk 28 may be mounted thereon.

The operation of the tuning control is.l as follows: The system is firstadjusted by rotating drum 2 until ball I5, for instance, engages/thecorresponding detent 9 of ring 1. Set-screw 2| is then loosened and thedrum is rotated until the control shaft I has assumed an angularposition representing some desiredrfrequency of loperation of the radiotransmitting lor receiving system. Set-screw 2I is then tightened. By asimilar operation, ring Gis adjusted for operation of the apparatus atsome second desired frequency. Assuming now that `the control shaft I isin such a position that ball I4 rests in detent 8 and it is desired tochange the frequency of operation .to one determined by the positionof/detent 9, the operator rotate handle 26 in a counter-clockwisedirection until the spring-pressed ball NMI5, drops into itscorresponding detent/9. 'I'he system -is now turned to the seconddesired frequency.

It is obvious that any number of rings'and corresponding spring-pressedballs may be used depending, of course, upon the number of predetermineddesired frequencies at which the system is intended to be operated. Itis also apparent thatthere is nolimitation as to how close to- .getherany two desired frequencies may' be for one ball may just be beginningto ride out of its corresponding detent, as a second ball falls into itscorresponding detent.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention it will, ofcourse, be understoodv that I do not wish to be limited thereto sincedifferent modifications may be made, and I therefore contemplate by theappended oiaims to cover all such modifications as vfall within, thetrue spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as'new and desired to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

. '1. In a control device, the combination com- 4prising a controlshaft, a pluralityof rings of substantially equal diameters vdisposedabout said sh'aft, means for adjustably securing said rings -to saidshaft, a corresponding number of springpressed non-rotational elementsabutting the inner periphries o1' said rings, each of said rings havinga detenton its inner periphery adapted to seat one of saidspring-pressed elements at a predeterminedangular position of saidshaft'.

2'. In a c'ontrol device, the combination comprising a control shaft, ahollow 'drum mounted on said shaft, a plurality of rings each having adefent on its periphery rotatably mounted within said drum, means forretaining said rings in xed angular relation with respect to said drum,each ring being so positioned as to have its detent correspond to apredetermined desired angular position 'of said shaft, a stationarymember extending within said drum and in proximity to said rings, and aplurality of spring-pressed elements carried by said stationary elementabutting the inner peripheries of said rings, each springpressed elementbeing adapted to rest in its corresponding detent at some predeterminedangular position of said shaft.

3. In a control device, the combination comprising a stationary member,a control shaft supported thereby, a.ho1low drum mounted on said l10shaft, a plurality of rings disposed axially of said shaft and withinsaid drum, said rings being adjustably secured to said drum and inproximity to said stationary member, and means for interlocking saidshaft tosaid stationary member 15 through'one of said rings.

